Some 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers and trainees are currently serving in 77 countries. (Wikipedia)

(Newser)
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A growing number of Peace Corps volunteers who have been raped while serving abroad are speaking out about their experiences and accusing the agency of not doing enough to help victims. Dozens of women describe a "blame the victim" culture at the government-run program and say the callous treatment they received was, in some cases, as traumatizing as the sexual assault itself, reports the New York Times.

The agency says an average of 22 Peace Corps women a year are victims of rape or attempted rape, although experts believe many attacks go unreported. A House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today will focus on what its chairwoman describes as the "gross mismanagement of sexual assault complaints." Victims say they want Congress to pass legislation requiring the agency to develop sexual assault response teams and to provide victims with emergency health care after attacks.

It was a serious problem when I was in PC in the pacific in the 90's. The local PC office disregarded any stories of rape or attempted rape as being culturally insensitive. All State Department wanna-be's who didn't want to rock the boat.

timmyt2233

May 11, 2011 1:43 PM CDT

Here's another scary story from a former volunteer: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-555608

AmExpat

May 11, 2011 11:24 AM CDT

I hope this doesn't come off as 'blame the victim', but I know that many PC women are quite underdressed by local standards, which in return 'appears' to be an invite to men in many of these macho, old-world cultures. Or it could be the fact that most of PC women are white. The rest of the world thinks of European & American women as 'easy'. I myself have been very appropriately dressed - even wearing a hijab - but because I was an white American expat, the mere color of my skin invited groping.